The ink nozzles are very small on Epson printers. This is what makes them capable of printing at such high resolutions. The drawback to this good feature is that the nozzles are prone to clogging. Blocked nozzles on an Epson can be more of a problem than some other makes because they are built into the printer rather than the ink cartridges.

There are reports of blockages that just will not clear at all. Maybe this is why Epson printers go through an elaborate nozzle cleaning procedure either when it is first turned on, or just before it starts printing a page.

Like other printers, the genuine inks are expensive. For this reason I bought some cheaper inks at a fraction of the price of the genuine articles. I’d bought them for the previous Epson printers but this was the first lot for this one. I make it policy to only use genuine inks while the printer is in guarantee. The present one is about a month out now.

The print quality was awful. Reds came out pink and greens came out blue. Naturally I started grumbling about the cartridges. It wasn’t until the printer’s own test page was printed that it became apparent that two of the ink cartridge colours were not there at all. “Bloomin’ cheap and nasty cartridges!” I thought.

The cleaning procedure had already been done quite a few times to no avail. As a last resort I pressed the button to do it again. I printed the test page and lo and behold! one of the missing colours returned. Two more cleanings got the other colour working and then print quality was fine.

I think this happened because I’d left the printer a bit too long between uses. The advice with Epson printers is to use them at least once a week so that the inks don't dry in the nozzles.

It was a bit unfortunate that this stubborn ink blockage happened just at the time I changed the inks for non-Epson ones, so causing me to blame them rather than the printer. Maybe I was lucky that the nozzles did actually clear in the end.

The moral of this story:

If you own an Epson printer never forget to use it regularly (perhaps once a week). Print anything that contains the full spectrum of colours to make sure the printer uses all of the ink nozzles.

If the print colour is wrong then clean, clean and clean again before blaming the ink cartridges like I did.

Great tip TW!

Personally, I'm a Canon girl, but have heard great things about Epson printers. Guess it's a bit like the arguments for or against PCs versus Macs?! *shrug*

Regarding the 'cheapie' inks - I've used them without problem so far and am very pleased at the cost savings.

Cheers,
ProofReader

I have a multifunction machine (Brother) that was not only my fax, copier, scanner, but also my printer. Since I have a new printer and scanner I don't use the MFC very much any more except for receiving and sending faxes. However, that may occur only once a week or less. Before it even thinks about printing a fax now it goes through the "cleaning" process. Bottom line is Telly, you are certainly right about working the machines often. Just like a car, one needs to run it once in a while!

This has nothing to do with Epson, but I have a printer problem.

It's a Canon C755 and it is my copier/fax machine. Those two functions work with no problem, but anything between the computer and the machine only work occasionally. Usually I have to plug it out, press the print command on my computer, and then plug it back in quickly. Three out of four times that will work. If I just leave it plugged in like a normal person, almost every time nothing happens. On the computer screen, it may say "copying," but the machine doesn't do anything. If I scan something from the machine to the computer, sometimes it will go through, but most of the time the machine will say "scanning" and if anything does show up on the computer, it's an error message.

It is very peculiar.

I've told a few people about this and they always say that I've installed it incorrectly or something, however the computer and machine were getting along fine for at least several weeks (if not months) before they went screwy. Truthfully, just after it messed up, I was having trouble with my computer and I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it, besides, since then I've taken everything that has to do with my printer out and reinstalled them over and over again with the same results.

It's not my only printer (just my favorite), so although I could just pick up the phone and have the company help me, I probably won't, but I'd be interested in any comments you have on the matter.

I think you get a sort of allegiance to a particular make of printer or scanner etc. If a make is found that works well people are perhaps inclined to stick with it when buying upgrades.

The first printer I had was an HP. Fine for letters but poor on photographs. That was ages ago and I know all printers have come a long way since then. However, because I hadn't been happy with the HP, it did mean I tried another make (Epson) when buying the next printer.

The Epson print quality on photographs was really good so I've stuck with Epson ever since ...even though they are clunky, whirry things because of the frequent automatic cleaning cycles they go through. I expect other makes are just as good now but well... I think I'm an Epson person now.

Lanni - Do you uninstall the printer before reinstalling? If not it might be worth trying uninstalling all instances of the printer in the Printers folder before doing the re-install. Are you using the latest driver for the printer?

*EDIT* Just had another read of your post and noticed that you do delete first. Hmm ...I'll have to think again!

If it's not your only printer do you have them both attached to the computer? Is it (or are they) a USB printer?

Another thought is that it might just be worth trying another lead.

Besides the basics, I don't know much about computer terms, what's USB? If it has anything to due with it, it is a bulky printer/fax/copier/scanner. I could also hook my answering machine to it, but I haven't.

I had the choice to install it for use solely as a printer or as a printer with everything else. Since it has messed up, I've tried both options with the same results. I first had it installed as everything.

I don't have both printers connected at the same time. As soon as I got the newer printer, I completely uninstalled my other one. I didn't reinstall it until the C755 went loony. Since then, I've taken it out again so the C755 is the only one installed in the computer.

USB is a way of connecting the things like printers, modems, scanners etc to the computer. It uses leads that are quite thin with plugs on the end that measure about ½ an inch across.

Is it this type of lead that you're having to unplug and plug back in to get the printer to work?

No, I don't need to plug out the connection between the computer and the printer. It's the plug that goes into the electric socket that I need to remove and put back in.

Just to add to telly's headache...I have a LexmarkX83 copier/printer/scanner whatever. It just sometimes goes kerflooey for no particular reason. It DID print yesterday, but today it says there is no connection. I must turn off the computer, unplug the USB and power connection in the back, plug them back in, and restart. This happened with the one year old computer my daughter took with her to college, too! Sometimes it works like a charm for weeks, then this happens again! It's not too inconvenient, and I'm very happy with the Lexmark. I just never understood why, when nothing in particular seemed different on the days it's being difficult!

In both cases: Is the printer being switched on before, or at the same time as, the computer? If so, try turning them on after the computer is up and running and see if that makes any difference.

My Lexmark is always on! It goes to "power save" mode, and it's never turned off. Never. And power failure doesn't seem to be a factor, either. Just a harmless little quirt that always seems to happen when you're in a hurry!

My printer is always on as well because I primarily use it as a copier and a fax machine.

Just try that last suggestion then. It may be that the USB part of the operating system needs to be working prior to detecting USB devices (printer).

Thank you, telly!

My LexmarkX83 is being strange. Yesterday I had to change my black cartridge. I did...and suddenly it was faded and crummy and not at all readable. So, I unhooked everything, performed several "cleanings", self tests, alignment tests and the whole shooteree...and still...it looks like a faded barcode or something! My hubby took that cartridge back and they would only give him another remanufactured one by the same company, which I dutifully put through it's paces one more time! It's still the same! I've tried running 10 individual copies hoping it would unplug or something...but NO!

Has anyone got a suggestion? Besides don't buy remanufactured cartridges? My family really thinks I can fix this! Thanks for any input! ~Lea

I have the same model of printer as you lefois, it is brilliant. For those who have not come across it, you can use certain features even when your computer is not connected to it, photocopying for instance - excellent.

Having a streaky (like a barcode) effect does make it seem like a jet that isn't working properly. There couldn't be anything physically blocking the path of ink to paper could there? (might be worth a look). Was the original ink cartridge a Lexmark branded one? Does the printer have something on it that showed that the cartridge was empty when you changed it?

Just wondering if it had anything wrong before you changed the cartridge that gave the impression it was empty when it wasn't.

If the original one was truly empty, and the trouble only arrived with the genreric make of cartridge, then it would seem to be just the cartridge nozzle rather than any printer fault. Unfortunately the only way you're going to know for sure is to get a Lexmark one and try it.

The trouble with many printers is that they are inexpensive to buy but the manufactures inks cost a fortune. I got some generic inks for my Epson. They work OK but I think the colours aren't quite as good as the original ones.

I have just checked the Lexmark cartridges that the X83 takes, they call them 'high resolution', the part number is 12A1970 for the black and 15M0120 for the colour, or as Lexmark say, 'color'. They are expensive.

Thanks you two! I just called the store and explained to the owner that I tried the SECOND remanufactured cartridge he provided and exactly what I had done and he said to bring it back and we could have an original Lexmark cartridge for the difference in price only. He also asked that I let him know if it works as they just began stocking these remanufactured cartridges during the holiday season and wants to know! Now I just have to wait til Mr. lefois returns and the problem may be solved...I hope. Now........about my monitor problem! Right now the screen looks like a rainbow of concentric circles! Geez! It's only a few months old! I can still read everything, but what a mess! First I will ask my daughter if she MADE it look that way for some weird reason, then I call FERD, the Computer Man!

OK...no help needed now! The "real McCoy" Lexmark cartridge works like a charm, AND, my daughter, *who knew absolutely nothing about why the screen looked that way*, just announced that all she did was shut it down and start it up and it was miraculously FIXED! Yeah, sure...did that myself this morning...several times! Back on track, anyway! Thanks for your offerings! All seems tickety-boo!

What you had with the monitor sounds as if the CRT had become magnetised. A bit technical this, but anyway...

In a monitor (other than flat-screen) there's a steel plate, called a shadow mask, situated just behind the glass. It has lots of tiny holes in it. In the neck of the CRT are three colour guns that have their beams attracted towards screen by a very high voltage (thousands of volts).

The metal plate therefore sits in between the red - green - blue electron guns and the beam destination of the screen. It is fixed in position very precisely so that the beam from the red electron gun passes through a hole in the shadow mask in such a way that it only hits a red phosphor ...and that's what you see on the screen. There are many red phosphors over the entire area of the screen. This applies to also to the green and blue electron guns.

The electron beams from the colour guns are made to scan the phosphors very quickly. The scan is repeated in a cyclic fashion so fast that we see an entire stable picture.

The mixture of all these phosphors being scanned and hit very quickly, when viewed from a distance, gives the impression to the eye of a complete colour spectrum picture.

What can happen sometimes is that the metal plate becomes magnetised due to external sources. For example: anything that gives off a magnetic field such as a vacuum cleaner, fridge magnets external audio speakers (unless the magnets are shielded, which they usually are if designed for a computer) or just anything like that.

When it gets magnetised the electron beams from the guns become diverted on their way to the phosphors on the screen. They end up going through the wrong holes in the metal plate. For instance, the beam from the blue gun might become deflected from it's path by the magnetism and hit red or green phosphors. This happening to all three guns is what produces the rainbow effect.

In the monitor circuitry there is a part that demagnetises the CRT metal plate (shadow mask) every time you turn the monitor on (called 'degaussing'). This part, having done it's job won't perform it's function again until it has cooled right down again (typically, about ten minutes).

I think what had happened in your case is that the shadow mask had somehow become magnetised. Turning the monitor off and maybe not turning it back on again for a few minutes would be enough for the demagnetising circuit to sort the problem out.


Sometimes the demagnetising component part (called a 'degauss thermistor' or 'positor') goes wrong or it can suffer from poor solder joints on it's legs and only work intermittently. If the component fails, the CRT becomes magnetised over a period of time anyway. That's why the shadow mask is degaussed every time the monitor is turned on.

The earth's magnetic field can even have an effect on things so, ideally, once the monitor has been turned on (and degaussed) it shouldn't be twisted around. The monitor should be moved into position and then turned on.

Just thought you'd like to know all that! Now tell me it's a flat screen monitor.

*Edit* typing errors.

Oh, Telly! Thank you so much! My problems were fixed before you edified me, but I read every word! I'll keep it in mind next time! I'm so glad everything's back to normal! I thought I had BIG problems! FT's good for our education! I just feel kinda bad that you went to all these lengths of explanation! You're a dear! ~Lea

Well there was one bit I had to edit out there. I had to change a bit in brackets where I'd originally said that the degaussing thermistor cools down even if the monitor is running.

This isn't so. The monitor needs to be turned off for a while for the circuit to operate again.

I had a brilliant tip for a printer problem on my older HP printer, the guy repairing one at work said you take off the roller that's made out of rubber, wash it, and it gets its stickum back. I had this idiotic problem with the printer not taking the paper properly.
I now have one Canon, I'm not at all convinced about Canon printers though my scanner is great, and I have a Lexmark that is doing quite well.